The Instinct of Adventure: The Story of SamsonSample

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Men love adventure. There’s nothing new about that. But something about the way we pursue it has changed. Consumer reporting suggests that the fastest-growing segment of the travel industry is now adventure vacations. Those same reports suggest that it isn’t just about adrenaline. The number one reason for booking an adventure is the desire for personal transformation.

I think you can see that same pull in the life of Samson. Samson is most often remembered for his hair and the miraculous power it produced. But Samson’s hair was a part of a larger commitment. Samson was a Nazarite. That commitment restricted him from cutting his hair, drinking alcohol, or touching a corpse. But the part that is most often ignored is that Samson hadn’t made that commitment for himself. He was born into it. An angel had instructed his mother to raise him as a Nazarite.

It must have been a difficult and peculiar way to live, even among the Israelites. Samson did not live in a high period of Israelite culture. He lived in a period called the time of the Judges. There was no centralized government or even a place of worship. The Israelites were constantly raided by their neighbors; most took to hiding in the hills as they desperately tried to just survive.

The starkest comparison to Israel’s political insignificance was the Philistines. By comparison, the Philistines were fabulously wealthy and had built major metropolitan cities on the coastal plains below Israel's hill country. Samson grew up, not only in the obscurity of Israelite identity but also with that backward Nazarite tradition he inherited from his parents. Is it any surprise we find Samson enamored with the Philistines?

Story after story, Samson went down to Philistia. Story after story, he tried to take part in their culture and experience their exotic customs. There is a phrase often used in the book of Judges but made central to Samson’s story. One day Samson saw a beautiful woman in a Philistine town and he urged his parents to arrange his wedding to the girl. He explained, “Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.”

Samson’s story is characterized by his eyes, really all of his senses. He is sensual, allured by what he sees, tastes, hears, and feels. Like every wandering adventurer, Samson is drawn away from the traditions of home and into the possibilities of better things across the horizon.

Read Samson’s story carefully, and you will discover that it is about far more than a man’s foolish decision to trust his secret to a devious woman. What you will find is that he is betrayed by far more than Delilah. Samson was betrayed by himself, betrayed by his wandering eyes, and his need for something more exciting.

As you read Samson’s story, pay attention to the way his senses continue to weaken his commitments. Watch as he sacrifices more and more of what he has for the hope of something still greater. And ask yourself, do you do it too? Do you find your own eyes constantly off in the distance, losing the world you possess for the one that fills your daydreams? If so, Samson’s story is an important one for you to pay close attention to.

How much do you find yourself daydreaming about adventure?